“If you can keep your wits about you while all others are losing theirs, and blaming you. . . . The world will be yours and everything in it, what’s more, you’ll be a man, my son.” — Rudyard Kipling

1. Senate Passes $95 Billion Package to Help Ukraine and Israel — the Senate passed a long-delayed $95.3 billion foreign-aid package sending much-needed ammunition and military equipment to beleaguered Ukrainian soldiers and fortifying Israel’s missile defense systems, while also forcing the sale of Chinese-controlled TikTok in the U.S. The 79-to-18 vote brought to a close months of wrenching debate over Ukraine that sharply split the Republican Party, with rank-and-file members openly rebelling against their leaders. The fight also called into question both how far the U.S. would go to defend the country, now in the third year of trying to repel Russia’s invasion, as well as America’s leadership role in the world.
The measure passed the House on Saturday and now goes to President Biden’s desk. Biden, who has been pushing for a big foreign-aid package since the fall, signed it into law Wednesday.
2. GDP growth slowed to a 1.6% rate in the first quarter, well below expectations — Gross domestic product, a broad measure of goods and services produced in the January-through-March period, increased at a 1.6% annualized pace when adjusted for seasonality and inflation, according to the department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for an increase of 2.4% following a 3.4% gain in the fourth quarter of 2023 and 4.9% in the previous period.
Consumer spending increased 2.5% in the period, down from a 3.3% gain in the fourth quarter and below the 3% Wall Street estimate. Fixed investment and government spending at the state and local level helped keep GDP positive on the quarter, while a decline in private inventory investment and an increase in imports subtracted. Net exports subtracted 0.86 percentage points from the growth rate while consumer spending contributed 1.68 percentage points.
3. Key Fed inflation measure rose 2.8% in March from a year ago, more than expected — the personal consumption expenditures price index excluding food and energy increased 2.8% from a year ago in March, the same as in February, the Commerce Department reported Friday. That was above the 2.7% estimate from the Dow Jones consensus. Including food and energy, the all-items PCE price gauge increased 2.7%, compared with the 2.6% estimate.
On a monthly basis, both measures increased 0.3%, as expected and equaling the increase from February. Consumers showed that they are still spending despite the elevated price levels. Personal spending rose 0.8% on the month, a touch higher even than the 0.7% estimate though the same as February. Personal income increased 0.5%, in line with expectations and higher than the 0.3% increase the previous month.

The week ahead — Economic data from Econoday.com:

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